[COM] Festival Plaza Tower 1 | 115m | 27 Levels | Office

[Llessur2002]

Some nice glimpses of the plaza complete with its water features and Hajek's sculptures in this very sexy video from '77...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUv7SBp68OA

[Goodsy]

Some nice glimpses of the plaza complete with its water features and Hajek's sculptures in this very sexy video from '77...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUv7SBp68OA

That's the kind of campaigning Weatherill needs to reproduce at the next state election

[phenom]

Some nice glimpses of the plaza complete with its water features and Hajek's sculptures in this very sexy video from '77...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUv7SBp68OA

Wow Grenfell Centre looked so tall there without the Telstra building (and all the others) clustered around it.

It certainly shows that one way or another the festival plaza is way overdue for some sort of rejuvenation... and also the benefit of the water features. More of those please - especially needed for the warmer months down there.

[Nathan]

Festival Plaza overhaul to include aty gallery as part of plan to make Adelaide world class cultural hub
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... y-comments

ADELAIDE is closer to becoming a “world-class cultural hub” with the State Government confirming it will investigate building an art gallery and revealing further details of the Festival Plaza overhaul.

Premier Jay Weatherill on Friday said details on a plan for an art gallery would be released as part of next month’s State Budget.

The Advertiser understands hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding has been allocated to a scoping study which will investigate whether a new gallery would be commercially viable.

It comes as Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan released new images of the walkway along the riverbank which will become a seamless “promenade” on the south side from the footbridge to King William St.

The current path would be widened and include a Hollywood-style Walk of Fame which should be accessible to the public by the third quarter next year as part of the first stage of works on the Festival Plaza project.

Last week, The Advertiser revealed there were strong arguments being made within State Cabinet for a contemporary art gallery but the “lively” debate centred on whether it should be located at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site or on the Torrens riverbank near the new hospital.

But some within Cabinet, understood to include Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis and Deputy Premier John Rau, were not convinced of the business case for another gallery and hesitant to commit the $250 million likely needed to build it.

Mr Weatherill would not reveal his preferred location for a new gallery. It is understood the scoping study would investigate the best location.

“I think these (questions about location) are some of the questions we need to answer first,” Mr Weatherill said at the SA Press Club on Friday.

“Rather than starting with the building I think you need to start with a cultural vision for the state and then think about some of the other questions.

“It’s a very exciting idea and I think you’ll hear more about it in the State Budget. I think there is a case for another cultural institution in SA.”

Mr Mullighan said that the promenade would significantly improve access into Elder Park and make the Festival Centre more accessible from the riverbank.

“The Adelaide Festival Plaza is set to become a unique world-class hub for arts, culture,

tourism and entertainment, and developing accessible and public spaces, such as the Northern Promenade, will be vital to achieving this,” he said.

“The design will target the separation of vehicle and pedestrian movements, improving safety and the function of the site while remaining sensitive to the existing cultural and heritage elements of the location.

“While there will be some disruptions during construction, we will make every effort to minimise the impacts on the general public as much as possible while we building what promises to be one of the Adelaide’s landmark sites and a focal point for our increasingly vibrant city.”

[Blimp]

The office component of this will surely kill off the chances of the GPO offices going through anytime soon. Will be interesting who ends up leasing these offices out (bar the standard government department leases).

[Norman]

The office component of this will surely kill off the chances of the GPO offices going through anytime soon. Will be interesting who ends up leasing these offices out (bar the standard government department leases).

Rumour is that it will be the Commonwealth Bank.

More information regarding the scheduling is available on the Renewal SA website: https://riverbank.sa.gov.au/adelaide-fe ... a-upgrade/

Redevelopment schedule
The development agreement between the state government and Walker Group Holdings Pty Ltd will result in the construction of an office building, retail area, upgraded car park, new public realm/area and the early works for expansion of the Adelaide Casino.

A staged approach to construction works aims to limit the impact on Riverbank visitors and those businesses located in the immediate surrounds.

Early works
Per the early works agreement signed by the state government and SKYCITY, construction is set to begin in August 2016 and involve the lowering of Festival Drive, which will separate vehicle and pedestrian movements and enable direct, on-foot access between the Riverbank Footbridge and Adelaide Railway Station. It will also include the early foundation work required to support the Adelaide Casino expansion.

At the same time, works will proceed on the northern side of the Adelaide Festival Centre to widen the east-to-west promenade, including the ‘Walk of Fame’, and create a seamless connection between the plaza and King William Street. This improved access on the river side of the centre also supports the creation of the new Festival Centre entry point to enable easier access to performances at the Dunstan Playhouse and Space Theatre.

This early works stage is scheduled for completion by December 2017, after which SKYCITY are expected to commence the Adelaide Casino expansion works above the plaza.

Car park and public realm works
On site demolition will commence in February 2017 to enable the construction of the car park and public realm, which is expected to be completed by 2019. The office building and retail spaces are scheduled to be finished by 2020.

We will advise the public of the Festival Centre car park closure date as soon it is confirmed—at this stage we expect it to remain open until July 2016.

Riverbank access during construction
The Riverbank Footbridge will remain open throughout the project, however public access will be restricted and temporary infrastructure will be installed to provide sporting event attendees with access between Adelaide Oval and the Adelaide Railway Station.

Hoarding and signage will be installed to help visitors navigate and keep them safe during construction.

[Patrick_27]

The office component of this will surely kill off the chances of the GPO offices going through anytime soon. Will be interesting who ends up leasing these offices out (bar the standard government department leases).

Not necessarily. It may mean that the GPO project needs to repurpose their proposal, though (hotel/offices).

[Patrick_27]

Rumour is that it will be the Commonwealth Bank.

Are you sure? If the sign out the front of their building is anything to go by, The Commonwealth Bank are about to relocate from the KWS premises...

Either way, basically what's going to happen is, rather than Walker bringing new and exciting corporate tenants to Adelaide, he's simply going to poach them from other office stock around the CBD, leaving a heap of vacant office buildings. I'm not totally opposed to this kind of thing, but if it's going to happen there needs to be more building owners repurposing their assets. Either bulldozing what's already there and building apartments, or simply refitting these buildings to become apartments.

[noted]

I am showing both my age and my pettiness, but it would bring me a disproportionate level of joy to see that commonwealth bank building bulldozed. Was a disgrace that they replaced the Majestic Hotel with something so ugly in the first place. Time to clear the decks again and have another a crack at building something nicer and preferably much bigger.

[Patrick_27]

Overall, the plaza design is good. But a few things I have noted (with black lining in the picture below) that really bother me is the fact that they're obviously intending to keep the mural on the brown-brick wall facing the Torrens, and the other is the octagon shapes in the concrete work. How hard is it for them to make these flush square lines? I'm also quite surprised that they aren't completely rebuilding the attached function room in the centre, at the moment it's a tacky add-on and it would seem that it's going to remain that way.

[stumpjumper]

Finally the 24 storey tower next to Parliament House is appearing as more than the ghostly rendering it's been in the public response documentation.

Partly as a result of the building's near invisibility, there's been little discussion of the urban design or effect on other commercial property in the city of such a large amount of Premier - sorry, premium - floor space at one edge of the city.

There's been little discussion in Parliament or comment from our MPs either. Could it be that their bi-partisan support for the building, not to mention acceptance of the deal done with Lang Walker, is due to the MPs expectation that soon they will be occupying glamorous new offices in the building?

[ml69]

Overall, the plaza design is good. But a few things I have noted (with black lining in the picture below) that really bother me is the fact that they're obviously intending to keep the mural on the brown-brick wall facing the Torrens

That browny brick wall is so 1970's. It should be re-clad with quality limestone or sandstone panels (as part of the upgrade) to give it a more classy finish.

That highly-visible view from the Torrens would be so much improved because of it.

[claybro]

Absolutely not sandstone. There is so much tacky faux sandstone cladding around adelaide already. How about copper, or weathered steel, or Sven coloured glass panels? Agree the brown brick should go.

[Nathan]

I'm putting my vote with team brown brick (but the mural should go).

[monotonehell]

I'm putting my vote with team brown brick (but the mural should go).

Do you mean the lower or upper house of parliament?